• by Chase Martin , March 14, 2017

In an effort to redefine the role of a TV within the home and further connect consumers to their content, Samsung just launched more than one smart TV product.

The products launched include a line of QLED smart TVs, a connected Blu Ray player and an overhauled user interface for Samsung’s Smart Hub software, including new Internet-based content services.

The TVs incorporate new capabilities in image quality and expanded smart feature-sets, as well as a modified design that removes almost all cables from direct connection to the TV.

Samsung appears to be focused on both increasing the technical capabilities of its televisions and minimizing the external visibility of those technical capabilities.

“When we set out to build QLED, we wanted to reinvent more than just the hardware and software technology within the TV itself,” Brandt Varner, vice president of TV product marketing, said in a video launch presentation. “We completely reimagined the role TV plays in our lives and in our homes. It should be more than just a bulky piece of tech, it should be a lifestyle enhancer.”

All connection ports have been moved from the TV to the so-called ‘One Connect Box,’ which can sit 15 to 45 feet away from the TV. In an effort to minimize visual clutter, the TV is tethered to the box by a single fiber optic cable, which is less than 2 millimeters thick. The cable has been in development for three years, according to Samsung.

Smart TV apps in the new sets include full Web browsing, online shopping, social media and interactive gaming, as well as other streaming entertainment services.

Voice control is also integrated into the ‘smart remote’ and can be used to control other devices connected to the TV, such as a set-top box, home theater system, game console or DVD player.

Other products on the market offer similar control of content and connected devices, however.

On the content side, Comcast has been leveraging voice control in its Xfinity X1 voice remote for nearly two years, which is mostly a conversational UI version of existing Xfinity DVR functions.

For controlling connected devices themselves, Logitech’s Harmony remote and Pop Switch act as universal smart home controllers, which can aggregate and trigger sequenced actions across multiple types of devices from a single button.

Logitech’s ecosystem is compatible with more than 270,000 devices. Voice control is not integrated directly into the remotes themselves, but can be added through an Amazon Alexa-enabled device, according to Logitech.

In addition to the new TVs, Samsung launched a new version of its Blu Ray player. Along with traditional playback, content can be be streamed directly from a Blu Ray disk in the player to an Android or iOS device simultaneously while the TV is in use.

Samsung’s Smart Hub also has been updated with a new user interface and new ‘smart services,’ including Samsung Sports, Music and TV Plus.

“We believe we’ve moved to the next logical step in a smart TV evolution,” Varner said.

That evolution has fallen into three segments over the course of the last six years, according to Varner. He said the original approach to smart TVs was app-centric, essentially adapting the smartphone experience to a TV, which then evolved into a content-driven approach in an effort to enable consumers to efficiently find the movies, shows and games they want. Within the last year, there has been a push to better connect smart TVs to the different sources and devices that deliver the content, such as Internet-based streaming boxes.

The next segment of smart TV evolution will move from responsive models to a more predictive approach, according to Varner.

“Now, we’re introducing a new dynamic,” he said. “Services like Music, Sports and TV Plus, that learn from what you like and use that to connect you with the content you’ll love.”

The QLED TVs were originally introduced at CES and hit the market next week, followed by a larger sized version this summer, according to Samsung.